The Best (and Worst) Books of 2021, According to a Person who Read Books in 2021

January 15, 2022 Emily

Actual photo evidence of Phantom helping me pick out books to read in 2021

Friends, I know this might seem like late in 2022 to be looking back at the best of 2021, but our episode on our favorite things of 2021 just dropped, and I needed some time to reflect on what I truly loved and hated about my reading in 2021. I love that for the first time I read 100 books, which beat my highest ever record of last year’s 75 books. I know that still doesn’t seem like a lot to many, but for me, a person who is a self-proclaimed slow reader, I feel pretty great about it. The pandemic has been good to my reading life.

But that doesn’t mean all the books I read this year were great. So here I give you my top 10 favorite books I read in 2021, and then we’ll end with my least favorite books of 2021 (since that’s what y’all are all here for anyway).

Kelli's 10 Most-Anticipated Movies of 2022

January 11, 2022 Kelli

live footage of me risking my life to go to AMC

I didn’t make very many New Years resolutions for 2022 because A) I don’t have a great track record when it comes to follow-through and B) we are still technically in 2020, but an unofficial resolution of mine for this year is to watch 100 movies. I probably accomplished this at some point as a teenager, but for the last few years I’ve hovered around 70, which is frankly not very many for claiming to be a person who “enjoys film” or whatever. Below, I have compiled my ten most-anticipated films of 2022. I promise to check back in December and let you know if I actually watched any of them.

One to Watch: A Chatty Review

January 7, 2022 Mary & Emily

Mary: Okay, so here we are, not doing any kind of YA book club or anything, just talking about a ROMANCE novel we’ve read. I think—and Emily correct me if I’m wrong—that romance is one of those genres that neither of us would pick up first, but we sometimes get one we really enjoy.

Crying in H Mart, My Mom, and a Recipe

December 23, 2021 Mary

Pls ignore the Halloween costume. And yes, I was a very ugly child.

I’m getting ready to celebrate another holiday season without my mom, and it feels just as weird this year as it did last year.

I normally don’t write posts that are so personal, but more and more I’m thinking it’s important to see how other people experience grief, especially during times that are traditionally happy and full of cheer. Earlier in 2021, I read Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner (who I got to know first as Japanese Breakfast).

Queer Girl Book Club: Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke

November 17, 2021 Kelli, Mary, and Emily

Emily: Welcome to another edition of Queer Girl Book Club, which is now past its inaugural stages and is in full swing. We’ve read some great books, we’ve read some okay books, and we’ve read some really bad ones. So where does our latest one fall on the scale? This time, we’re discussing Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke by Eric LaRocca. It’s a novella written all through e-mails and instant messages between two women who enter into a BSDM relationship with each other that’s entirely virtual. Agnes meets Zoe when she’s trying to sell her apple peeler on a queer message board. Agnes seems desperate to find connection, and Zoe… well, her motivations are a little less clear and something I think we should discuss. We also have a guest with us this time! So welcome Mary! What made you want to join Queer Girl Book Club for this particular book?

Mary: When you mentioned that y’all were reading this book, I knew I had to force my way into the discussion because I’ve been wanting to read it for a long time. I keep seeing posts on BookTok about it, and a lot of book influencers have talked about how shocking and horrific it is. Nothing gets me hooked more than something people are disgusted by–I just have to know what’s up. Also, I love an epistolary novel; the constraint required makes for a more interesting story, sometimes. I’m not ashamed to say I read this one in one sitting!

Emily: Well, this is interesting because I know Kelli hates epistolary novels so maybe we should start there and let y’all duke it out. Did this form work? What sort of constraints does this form put on the story, if any?

I should also say… spoilers to follow!

Horror, Empathy, and Faith in Mike Flanagan's Midnight Mass

November 10, 2021 Kelli

If you are a regular listener to our podcast you probably know that BSG stans Mike Flanagan. We are #FlanaganHive. Just check out our episodes on The Haunting of Bly Manor and Doctor Sleep if you don’t believe me. Anyway, knowing this, you might have been wondering if we were going to talk about Midnight Mass. Herein lies your answer: I, Kelli, am going to be talking about Midnight Mass all by myself, because it’s November already and I can no longer wait for the other members of this operation to catch up with me. I watched this show the weekend it came out, and I have been thinking about it ever since.

(Very minor spoilers to follow)

Return of Todd's Fantasy Series Corner: Part 3

November 7, 2021 Todd Osborne

It has been a minute since we last talked fantasy, hasn’t it? Well, I have returned to talk all things fantasy, SF, and anything else I feel like talking about.

First: a quick rundown of series that I have already touched on: I finished Oathbringer, the 3rd book in Brandon Sanderson’s The Stormlight Archive, and while I still enjoyed it, it did have the feeling of a middle act kind of book. The characters were a little more dour, a little less self-confident, but the book still had its hooks in me and I am excited to pick up Rhythms of War soon! Mary and I also recently got the first 3 Mistborn books, so I am looking forward to digging into some earlier Sanderson soon as well.

YA Book Club: Mercury Boys

October 30, 2021 Mary & Emily

Come travel back in time with YA Book Club as we discuss Mercury Boys by Chandra Prasad. The book follows Saskia, who just moved to a new state with her dad and is settling into a new school. She reflects that she hasn’t really had many genuine friends during her life, and she’s excited to become close with Lila, who seems very cool and level headed IMO. Lila works at a college library, where she has access to all sorts of archival daguerreotypes.

Dune Was Fine

October 27, 2021 Mary

I watched the new Dune adaptation, directed by Denis Villeneuve. It was fine. This isn’t as much of a review as it is me trying to unpack what I like about Dune, both as a novel and a film. I’ll say up front that if you like sci-fi at all, you might as well go see Dune, or at least watch it on HBO Max at home. However, it wasn’t quite what I wanted it to be.

The Wild Ride of The Way Down

October 20, 2021 Susan

The culty content keeps coming with HBO's The Way Down: God, Greed and the Cult of Gwen Shamblin, a new docuseries that investigates the Remnant Fellowship Church in Brentwood, Tennessee, and its strange leader. The "church" evolves from a weight loss-focused workshop to an evangelical Christian spinoff to an full-fledged cult. The Way Down traces the rise and fall of Gwen Shamblin, the cult's body-obsessed leader, as she transforms Remnant Fellowship into the dangerous high-control group that it still is today. Some spoilers for The Way Down to follow.

Tags

Archive

Follow us on Instagram!